1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine starting controller.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to prevent drunken driving, a technology, which detects a drunken state of a driver and prohibits starting of an engine of a vehicle if the detected drunken state is equal to or higher than a predetermined criterion, is known (see JP7-009924A and JP2007-186124A, for example). Moreover, in order to prevent thefts of vehicles, another technology is known. The technology takes an image of a driver's face etc. with a camera, determines whether the driver is an authorized person or not by comparing the taken image with a registered image that has been registered in advance, and prohibits the driver from starting an engine of a vehicle if it is determined that the driver is not the authorized person.
It is possible to combine the engine starting prohibition/permission system based on the drunken state of a driver and the engine starting prohibition/permission system based on an individual certification of a driver.
However, in the combined system, a sensor for detecting the drunken state of a driver and the camera for taking the image of the driver's face are installed at different positions. Therefore, a configuration of the system becomes complicated.